Kidzworld Kitchen: Healthy Lunch Ideas

Time to get out your backpack and choose your outfit for the first day because school is back in session!

With a fresh new beginning it’s a great time to make a pact to get your study fuel from a healthy, nutrient-filled lunch and snacks. It can be tempting to grab a bag of chips or French fries when there is nothing else handy but with a little bit of pre-planning delicious all-natural foods can be right at your fingertips.

Granola BarsCourtesy of Love Sugar Cakes

Strawberry Fruit Roll UpsCourtesy of Love Sugar Cakes

Pizza RollupsCourtesy of Love Sugar Cakes

Butterfly Treat BagsCourtesy of Love Sugar Cakes

Try out these ideas for homemade versions of favorites like granola bars and fruit rollups. You’ll be surprised how simple they are to make and next time you take a look at the label on the store bought varieties notice how many ingredients are on the list that are impossible to pronounce and totally unnecessary. Cutting out this stuff will make you feel awesome and give you the energy to make this the best school year ever!

Granola Bars

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup ground flax seed

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup dried unsweetened blueberries or cranberries

1/4 cup sunflower seeds (raw or roasted unsalted)

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds (raw or roasted unsalted)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup honey

1 egg beaten

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup applesauce (unsweetened)

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly oil a 9 X 13 inch baking pan

In a large bowl, mix together oats, flour, flax seed, brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins, sunflower and pumpkin seeds and salt

In a small bowl, combine honey, egg, canola oil, applesauce and vanilla

Combine liquid and dry ingredients and mix well.

Add chocolate chips and nuts (if desired)

Pat mixture into prepared baking pan

Bake for 25 minutes until bars are golden at the edges. Let them cool for 5 minutes before cutting them into bars or squares

Makes approximately 24 bars.

Granola BarsCourtesy of Love Sugar Cakes

Pizza Rollups

Ingredients:

1 8-inch whole-wheat flour tortilla

2 tablespoons prepared pizza sauce

10 thin slices of pepperoni (optional)

12 leaves baby spinach

3 tablespoons shredded part-skim mozzarella

Instructions:

Place tortilla on a plate and spread pizza sauce over it

Top with an even layer of spinach and pepperoni

Sprinkle cheese on top

Microwave on High until the cheese is just melted (about 45 seconds)

Carefully roll the tortilla up and let cool for 10 minutes before slicing into pieces

Pizza RollupsCourtesy of Love Sugar Cakes

Strawberry Fruit Roll Ups

Ingredients:

2 cups organic strawberries

¼ tsp cinnamon

Instructions:

Preheat oven to lowest temperature

Blend the fruit and cinnamon in a food processor until smooth

Spread onto a parchment-lined baking sheet

Put into the oven until fruit is dry (times will vary depending on the oven).

Cut into strips and store in a glass container in the refrigerator.

Strawberry Fruit Roll UpsCourtesy of Love Sugar Cakes

Butterfly Treat Bags

Ingredients:

Snack-size baggies

Clothespin

Pipe cleaner

Markers

Instructions:

Wrap the pipe cleaner around the clothespin and form the end into curled antennae

Using the marker decorate the clothespin with bright colours and add eyes

Fill each side of a baggy with a healthy snack such as fruit, crackers, nuts, fruit snacks or veggies

Seal and pin through the center with the clothespin

Enjoy!

Butterfly Treat BagsCourtesy of Love Sugar Cakes

Remember, be creative, have fun and above all, safety first! Always talk to the adult in charge before you get your chef on! Have a great lunch!

Recipes courtesy of Love Sugar Cakes. Tweet us and let us know what kinds of recipes you want to see!

Dear Dish-It In The Forums

Goodness...
I see where your mother is coming from: if you eat too much, no matter how healthy the food is, and don't work off the calories, you're going to gain weight. But she's being very obsessive and dramatic about it.
There is nothing wrong with eating pizza or a cookie every now and then, and there's nothing wrong with relaxing from time to time either. As long as you aren't constantly eating junk and not burning the calories, then you do not have a problem. Eating unhealthy things every now and then does not make you fat. EATING every now and then does not make you fat. Try explaining this to her, calmly and patiently.
Tell her that you don't want to be forced to do all of this exercising - being forced to exercise makes it a lot less interesting. Do not take "This is for your own good" for an answer; if you do not want to do it, it is NOT for your good. (This, of course, would be a different story if you were actually fat.)
ALSO tell her that exercising too much and not satiating your cravings is JUST AS UNHEALTHY AS BEING FAT IS. If you were to not eat healthful meals and not snack every now and then, no matter how healthy or unhealthy the food is, plus exercise so frequently, you would not be healthy. Eating is good for you, even if the food isn't. Eating too little and eating too much is not healthy. Exercise is good for you. Not exercising enough and exercising too much is not good for you.
If you talking to her doesn't help, try telling another adult how you feel, and maybe they can help get it through to her.
Regardless of what happens, take care of yourself. Moderate how much you eat, but don't limit yourself to less than you feel you need. Exercise, but don't do something you don't want to; working out should be fun.
Good luck with everything. I'm really sorry that she makes you feel so badly about this.

I'm perfectly happy with myself. I'm around 5'6" and somewhere between 140-150 pounds, and I don't feel fat. But my mom is constantly telling me that I am, or, at least, that I'm going to be. She forces me to go to exercise classes because I don't like many sports, tries making me go on diets, but I don't want to. She tells me that if I continue the way I am, having an extra cookie once in a while and only eating cereal for breakfast, that I'll end up fat, and she makes sure to emphasize how horrible that is for a person to live with. She rolls her eyes and sighs whenever she sees me getting a snack, and just in general makes me feel awful for eating the things I like and for relaxing.
I've told her that I don't want to do these things and that she makes me feel bad when she says things like that, but she swears it's for my own good and that I should never want to be fat, that it ruins people's lives.
How should I deal with this?

"NS12" wrote: I meet this guy at a festival and we have been talking for the whole week and my mum has noticed I keep texting someone and I know I need to tell her but I don t know how I am going to tell her, I doubt she ll get angry or anything but he lives about 4/5 hours away from me. I know I need to tell her as I don t like keeping secrets from her.
I know this was a bit ago, but I truly hope that you were able to be open with your mother. If you feel as if they won't get mad at you, then chances are that your guardian will not. Honesty is the best policy, and if you feel guilt keeping a secret, then it is one you probably shouldn't be keeping.

I agree with @rainbowpoptart. You really shouldn't worry about relationships that much given your age. I promise, they're better things to worry about than boys and more secure romances occur later on in life anyways.
But, given the situation, you shouldn't worry about either. The boy is unfaithful and so is your friend. If your best friend really valued your friendship, she would not have put it in a position that could end it. Don't waste your time on those who will not put you first just as you do for them; better people will come into your life and they are the ones who you should really worry about.